Form holding ribbon construction



J1me 6 B. WALLERSTEIN, ETAL 3,

FORM HOLDING RIBBON CONSTRUCTION Filed April 24, 1962 INVENTORS 4 WKENCE B. Wdll'RS/E/A/ Mu/AM 5mm AN BY E adhesive combination'since the lamination may United States Patent 3,256,129 FORM HOLDING RIBBON CONSTRUCTION Lawrence B. Wallerstein and William Bachman, both of 1000 Madison Ave., New Rochelle, N.Y. Filed Apr. 24, 1962, Ser. No. 189,860 4 Claims. (Cl. 16110) The present invention relates to a ribbon material, and it particularly relates to a form holding ribbon construction.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel ribbon construction which will hold its shape and form in which when tied or formed into a bow will not become limp when subject to moisture, handling or water.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a very narrow fabric construction which will hold a predetermined shape or form whether it be a ribbon, bow or otherwise and which will be of enhanced decorative effect when used for wrapping, typing or forming purposes.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects according to one form of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it has been found most satisfactory to provide a narrow fabric or ribbon construction in laminated form which will have a central elongated reinforcement to enable it to hold its shape or size and not to become limp upon handling, tying, or when used as a bow, or for other decorative purposes. v

The ribbon construction may consist of a decorative ribbon face which may be of varying colors and flocked or decorated, and a thin flexible metal wire or strip may be attached to the rear thereof extending centrally in an elongated direction and held in' position by the means of an adhesive tape.

This laminated construction assures that the bow or other design resulting from tying the ribbon will hold its shape or size regardless of atmospheric conditions and regardless of the position in which the bow may be tied or the package may be positioned.

' The lower laminated tape desirably has an adhesive face preferably a pressure sensitive adhesive, and it can be a paper tape or a cloth tape or a coated tape or a plastic film tape or ribbon either supported or unsupported.

These tapes have pressure sensitive surfaces containing rubber material, or they. may be provided with cohesive surfaces or heat scalable surfaces.

The ribbon itself may be a rayon, or nylon construction and may be woven of cotton, silk, cellulose acetate or nylon, and it may be suitably surfaced with flocking, spraying or other decoration.

Less preferably, the material may be of metal or a combination of metal or fabric.

The adhesive colored tape may match the color of the surface which is preferred, or it may be of a different or contrasting color.

Normally, it is found best to use a pressure sensitive be most readily preferred in this manner.

However, the laminate may be sealed by heat or pressure or other means to assure a permanent bond.

Although the preferred type of wire is a steel or alumin'um wire of .016 to .025", it may be also used in the form of a thin ribbon or two or three wires may be laid in parallelism to each other.

3,256,129 Patented June 14, 1966 Plastic strips may also be used as the central elongated reinforcement.

Desirably, the backing tape which attaches the wire in position is substantially narrower and only occupies A to A; of the width of the ribbon preferably A to A, but it may also be as wide as the ribbon but in no case should it extend beyond the ribbon or narrow fabric edge.

The laminated structure may also be notched equally on both sides of the ribbon at even intervals depending upon size of loop to aid in forming bows, and the wire in such case will be protected by a relatively narrow central strip or ribbon on one side and adhesive material on the other.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the. claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an under tape and the center reinforcement roll of ribbon according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view upon an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is afront perspective view of a bow which may be made according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a bow construction.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of an alternative em bodirnent of a notched construction.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a roll of ribbon A having a decorative facing B of ribbon fabric, a backing tape C and a central stiffening reinforcement D.

The face 10 of the ribbon may be suitably decorated or bowed and the edges at 11 may be compressed or devoid of decoration which gives extra thickness to the middle portion 10.

The back tape 12 is held in position by an adhesive coating 13 which may consist of a pressure sensitive rubber containing adhesive and less preferably a strip is used instead of the Wire D. I

It is possible to use a strip or weft wire in parallelism or even a ribbon or rod of plastic.

It will be noted that the edges 14 of the backing terminate short of the inside of the edge 15.

This ribbon as shown in FIG. 2 may be formed into the durable bows E and F, and it will hold its shape regardless of humid conditions.

This form sustaining ribbon may be notched at intervals to enable more effective tying of bows with the notched portion being at the central area 16 and 17 of the bow.

In FIG. 5, there is shown a construction with the notches 18 indicated at specified intervals where the bow is to be tied with the ribbon having its full width in the other portions 19 and with the reinforcement 20 extending through the full width portions as well as the notch portions.

The notch portions 18 will preferably extend inside of the outer edges of the backing tape 21 so that the narrow notched portions'18 will be laminated for the full width.

The enclosed ribbon construction is particularly advantageous in its form holding construction and in the fact that the reinforcing or stiffening member Whether of metal or plastic ribbon or strip will be embedded -between the ribbon top and the adhesive tape backing.

The metal may be of ferrous or nonferrous material and treated to prevent rust or corrosion and any chemical 3 reaction with the adhesive or materials of the tape or ribbon.

The ribbon may be of any suitable narrow woven fabric and it is particularly useful for decorative packaging in the florist trade and in gift wrapping where substantially permanent bows are to be formed.

The ribbon may have a flock printed face or have an embossed face, and it may be silk screened.

As many changes could be made in the above form holding ribbon construction, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in' a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. A decorative form and shape retaining woven fabric ribbon bow for use in packaging and attachment to floral bouquets in the florist trade composed of a tied and bowed laminated narrow fabric construction comprising a narrow fabric face, a. longitudinal wire extending centrally the full length in back of the face and an adhesive tape holding said reinforcement in position, said narrow fabric being formed of a woven textile material with parallel edges and said tape being of plastic film and being substantially narrower than the narrow fabric and occupying only A" to of the width of the ribbon and said wire being of metal of a diameter of .016" to .025".

2. A form and shape retaining woven fabric ribbon bow for floral use resistant to moisture and crushing consisting of bow tied from a narrow ribbon fabric having a compressed flexible flat edge, a central wire reinforced linear portion of great stiffness of thin diameter a central stiffened area on each side of said wire consisting of an adhesive plastic sheet tape and an area of intermediate flexibility between the edges of the tape and the flat edge.

3. The bow of claim 2, said fabric being heat sealed to said plastic tape, said tape having only of the width of the narrow ribbon fabric so that the edges will be relatively flexible while the central tape carrying portion will be relatively stiff.

4. The bow of claim 3, said ribbon having recessed portions along the edges thereof corresponding to the crossing portion of the bow.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS.

367,592 8/1887 Brodhag 154-536 1,167,466 1/1916 Angier 156-179 X 1,285,465 11/1918 Tewksbury 154-53 1,895,758 l/1933 Goldsmith.

2,103,892 12/1937 Brown 154-536 2,240,274 4/1941 Wade 15453.6 2,467,565 4/1949 Owens et a1. 2,467,572 4/1949 Weisselberg 41-13 2,495,187 l/1950 Shames 154-536 2,587,502 2/1952 McMahon.

2,595,133 4/1952 Golden 161-260 2,633,128 3/1953 Schaefer 154-536 X 2,767,113 10/1956 Bower 154-53 X 3,068,135 12/1962 Bower 156-179 3,101,483 8/1963 Boser et a1. 2-260 ALEXANDER WYMAN, Primary Examiner.

EARL M. BERGERT, Examiner.

W. B. WALKER, W. POWELL, Assistant Examiners. 

2. A FORM AND SHAPE RETAINING WOVEN FABRIC RIBBON BOW FOR FLORAL USE RESISTANT TO MOISTURE AND CRUSHING CONSISTING OF BOW TIED FROM A NARROW RIBBON FABRIC HAVING A COMPRESSED FLEXIBLE FLAT EDGE, A CENTRAL WIRE REINFORCED LINEAR PORTION OF GREAT STIFFNESS OF THIN DIAMETER A CENTRAL STIFFENED AREA ON EACH SIDE OF SAID WIRE CONSISTING OF AN ADHESIVE PLASTIC SHEET TAPE AND AN AREA OF INTERMEDIATE FLEXIBILITY BETWEEN THE EDGES OF THE TAPE AND THE FLAT EDGE. 